The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 709 Dream World 47
"A shadow is the outline of an object drawn by light and darkness. Creatures without shadows are utterly rejected by light and darkness. Willpower connects the body and the shadow, and extraordinary willpower is the key to actively controlling the shadow..."

The very first sentence of the book caught Moran's eye.

She eagerly continued reading, the words on the pages unfolding like flowing water:

"Shadow hunters can manipulate the shadows of their enemies, thereby affecting their physical bodies. The shadows they capture can be drained of shadow power to feed their own shadows or shadow pets, while creatures and objects stripped of their shadows will suffer varying degrees of damage..."

Moran paused slightly, realizing the meaning of the situation.

The question that had puzzled her for so long, "How does a shadow affect an object in reverse?", finally had an answer.

According to this book, the shadow actually represents the body's ability to accept light and darkness.

Shadows are not simply an optical phenomenon, but a representation of an object's ability to absorb light and darkness.

Willpower is the bridge connecting the body and the shadow. Ordinary willpower can only connect the shadow and the body, passively maintaining the existence of the shadow. Only extraordinary willpower can actively manipulate the power of the shadow, thereby affecting the shadow itself.

It was only then that Moran realized that she had made the right mistake by accidentally using her mental power to amplify her control over the power of shadow. Willpower, like mental power, is an energy that leans more towards the soul, and it is even possible that they are originally the same kind of energy.

Shadow hunters manipulate other people's shadows, essentially using the power of shadows as cover and employing shadows as a medium to wage a battle of wills against others.

The victor can naturally influence the will and thoughts of others in order to achieve control.

Whether it's physical immobility, sudden loss of sight and hearing, or uncontrollable actions, it's all because one's will has been suppressed by others, and one's body and senses have been controlled by others.

This method is somewhat like a combination of witch's curse magic and mage's mental magic.

The shadow is like a casting medium that amplifies the success rate of curse magic, and the confrontation of wills is like the confrontation of mental power when casting mental magic.

When combined, it is more covert and roundabout than mental magic. The effect is not as obvious, but because the shadow is used as the casting medium, the success rate is higher and it is more difficult to defend against.

Of course, if the target possesses overwhelming mental strength, this manipulation will still fail.

This is why, even before she changed her clan, the children in the village could not shake her influence.

However, if the shadow is completely stripped away, the situation is far more serious than simple manipulation; the original body will be rejected by both light and darkness for a period of time.

Moran's gaze fell on the beautifully drawn illustration beside him.

A luminous flower that should have glowed in the dark withered quickly because it lost its shadow.

The artist captured every moment of its withering with delicate brushstrokes. The edges of the petals curled and turned black, and the bright blue fluorescence gradually dimmed as if life had been taken away. In the end, the entire plant turned into a clump of ashes, frozen into an eternal death on the windless paper.

"Those without shadows will be burned by light and lose their life when plunged into darkness." She read the caption below softly, her voice unconsciously tense. A small note also appeared in the corner of the illustration:
"Test subject: Night-blooming flower (shadow deprivation duration: 10 minutes) — Excerpt from 'The Taboo of Shadows'"

Fortunately, after that terrifying text, she added:
“The shadow of an object is relatively inert and can be easily stripped away and tamed; but the shadow of a living being is closely connected to its body and can only be severed with a willpower far exceeding that of the other.”

According to Moran's previous discoveries, willpower and mental strength complement each other, and may even be of the same origin. With her mental strength, there are probably very few people who can strip her of her shadow.

Once Moran was sure her shadow was safe enough, she was finally able to relax and continue reading.

“A creature’s shadow has a certain self-healing ability. As long as it is not completely stripped away, it can slowly recover over time. If it is nourished with the power of shadow, it can also accelerate the recovery of the main body. Even if the shadow is completely lost, it can be re-nurtured by infusing it with the power of shadow.”

Her gaze swept over a small illustration next to her—a shadowy kitten, missing an ear, causing its real ear to also lose fur and become bloodied, was dozing on a rock. However, tiny shadowy threads were slowly wriggling and regenerating at the missing part of the shadow's ear, and the injury to the real ear was also slowing down.

"The shadow of an inanimate object has no self-healing ability. If the damage is not repaired in time, it will accelerate the decay of the original object; conversely, if it is carefully nurtured with the power of shadow, the lifespan of the original object can be greatly extended."

The text is accompanied by a set of comparison images: on the left is the shadow's broken iron sword, its blade covered in rust; on the right is the shadow's meticulously maintained identical weapon, its blade gleaming coldly.

Moran suddenly remembered the panicked little girl Dani in the square, how she almost cried when her skirt shadow was taken away. It turned out that it wasn't just because she loved beauty.

"If we hadn't returned the shadow to her back then... her dress in reality probably would have inexplicably developed a hole, right?"

This realization made her chuckle: "The relationship between the shadow and the original body is quite fascinating!"

Moran finally understood Martina's disdain for the "Shadow Hunter" profession of adventurers.

The skills learned by the Shadow Hunters among adventurers are nothing more than moving around in shadowy places and summoning shadow pets to fight together. They are just superficial combat techniques, like an amateur who has only learned sword moves but does not know how to forge a sword.

The true Shadow Hunters of the Shadow Clan have long since infiltrated every corner of life:
Tailors can use the power of shadows to repair the shadows of clothing, giving old fabrics a new lease on life; craftsmen use shadows to nurture their tools, allowing an ordinary iron sword to remain rust-free for centuries under careful care; and doctors can even treat certain injuries that medicine cannot reach by manipulating the shadows of their patients.

Now that we've moved on from the theoretical section, let's get to the content related to shadow classification.

The book categorizes shadows into still life shadows and living creature shadows.

The shadows of still life objects are as static as rocks, making them the easiest to peel away and tame.

Biological shadows are divided into two categories: shadows of unintelligent creatures and shadows of intelligent creatures.

The shadow of an unintelligent creature is like the rippling surface of water, instinctively resisting but lacking strategy; the shadow of an intelligent creature is like a wary beast, not only resisting but possibly even turning against the hunter.

Moran's fingertips traced a passage of gilded text:
"There is no shadow in the world that exists independently of its original form. So-called 'shadow creatures' are actually creations nurtured by hunters using the power of shadow and imbued with fragments of their own will."

In the illustration, an elderly Shadow Clan member is tearing a small piece from his own shadow and injecting it into the body of a spherical shadow.